


Hearts of Clouded Crystal

by Lamia of the Dark (VisceraNight)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Drama, F/M, Humor, I Will Never Finish Writing This, OC Dies At The End, Romance, This Was Supposed To Have 30 Chapters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:28:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24749878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VisceraNight/pseuds/Lamia%20of%20the%20Dark
Summary: Bits and pieces of a fic in which Moody and a Death Eater OC strike up an odd friendship which they never quite allowed to turn into a romance.
Relationships: Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 4





	1. At Half Mask

**Author's Note:**

> This was written years ago for a challenge on the HPFC forum on FFN, in which there were 30 prompts and I was supposed to write a fic with 30 chapters, one for each prompt.
> 
> I only made it through 9 prompts before the deadline. As you may have noticed, there are only 7 chapters posted here.
> 
> One of the chapters fit well enough into "With Me, Into the Dark" that I put it into that collection after I took "Hearts of Clouded Crystal" down. There is another chapter, the last one I wrote, which is so poorly written that I decided not to include it.
> 
> The chapters have been rearranged into chronological order, rather than the order in which they were originally posted. 
> 
> Obviously there are huge chunks of plot missing which never got written, but this is basically an AU of my other fics featuring my OC Lilith Goyle. In this one she is more morally gray initially, and ends up wavering between the light and dark sides.

~ Hearts of Clouded Crystal ~

Alastor isn't certain whether the opponent he faces is male or female, only that he has never seen this particular Death Eater before. Even if it weren't for the unusual choice of weapons - a black scythe in addition to the standard carry of wand and dagger - the mask is a dead giveaway. Unlike most Death Eater masks, this one does not cover the wearer's full face.

He later learns why this person chooses to leave the bottom half of their face exposed. During a battle where they've both lost all their weapons, Alastor gets the Death Eater in a headlock and thinks he's won the battle, until he feels the sharp sting of teeth sinking into his arm.

~oOo~

Prompt used: mask


	2. Blood at the Candy Store

~ Hearts of Clouded Crystal ~

Most people didn't realize that Gilbert Goyle even had a sister until after their father died, and Lilith was finally allowed out of the house.

Moody's first encounter with the woman - as purely herself, not the masked demon in her Death Eater robes - happened in a sweet shop, of all places. Alastor had been tasked with restocking the Auror department's supply of chocolate, which had become rather run down of late due to the high number of prisoners being escorted to and from Azkaban during this time of war.

As he entered Honeydukes, he heard a semi-familiar female voice saying, "I'll take three dozen of these."

He looked in the direction the voice had come from and saw a witch he was certain he had never met. She was accompanied by Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy, and her appearance was rather unremarkable when compared to the two Black beauties, although she was notably broader in the shoulders than either of them.

"Lilith," Bellatrix said, in much the same tone one would use when informing a small child that they've done something quite obviously stupid, "those are for vampires."

"I like them," Lilith replied, pouting.

Bellatrix glared at her, but Narcissa ended their argument by saying to the shopkeeper, "Add three dozen Blood-Flavored Lollipops to our order, please. That will be all today, and you may charge it to the Malfoy account."

"Would you like your packages delivered, or will you be taking them with you?" the shopkeeper asked.

Bellatrix and Narcissa both replied, "Delivered."

At the same time, Lilith said, "I'll take mine with me now."

When Bellatrix frowned at her, Lilith snapped, "What?"

"Nothing," Bellatrix answered, her tone clearly implying that there was indeed something.

"Oh, yes, Merlin forbid that I be seen carrying around my shopping like a common person," Lilith sneered, as she accepted the package with her candy in it from the shopkeeper. "Forgive me for having an absolute harpy of a sister-in-law who has a tendency of 'losing' my mail."

Bellatrix snorted. "If you weren't still living in your family's home, you wouldn't have to worry about such things. That's why I got married right out of Hogwarts."

"Yes, well... as horrible as Marisol is, I wouldn't consider getting married just to spend less time around her."

"You know, you could come and stay with us," Bellatrix offered. "My husband has a brother..."

"Thank you, but no," her interlocutor replied.

The three women paid no attention to Alastor as they brushed past him on their way out of the shop. He caught a glimpse of Lilith in profile as they passed, and something about the way she walked combined with the expression of distaste she wore reminded him strongly of one of the more vicious Death Eaters he'd recently fought.

It wasn't until he was back at the Ministry building that he remembered that Marisol was the name of Gilbert Goyle's wife.

~oOo~

Prompt used: Vampires


	3. Into the Fire

~ Hearts of Clouded Crystal ~

He grabs her arm to stop her from Disapparating, but apparently he miscalculated her strength for she simply drags him along with her. He doesn't have time to properly identify their destination farther than _damn, it's hot_ before he is swarmed by Lethifolds.

So, she brought him straight into the creatures' nest and abandoned him here?

He somehow manages to cast a Patronus Charm, but there are too many of the creatures for a single Patronus to keep them at bay for long. If it could just stop all of them from chewing on him for a moment, he could Apparate away...

Suddenly, he hears a voice shouting a spell. The sharp, snapping syllables are definitely not _Expecto Patronum_ , and are - in fact - no spell he has ever heard of before. One of the Lethifolds lets out an ungodly shriek as it goes up in flames. The spell is repeated and another Lethifold is sent to its doom. The rest of the creatures seem to get the message and quickly disperse.

Lilith stands before him - unmasked, bloody, apparently having stayed to do battle with the Lethifolds. Perhaps she had not intentionally chosen this locale, after all?

"What was that spell?" he asks.

"It wasn't a spell, per se," she answers, "and I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but I borrowed a bit of Phlegethon's fire."

That term sounds familiar to him for some reason but his mind can't quite put a definition to it.

"But why would you save me?" he asks.

The words 'your enemy' lie unspoken but heavy between them.

"Well," she replies. "My family isn't known for our brains..."

Before he can question her further, she Disapparates.

~oOo~

Prompt used: Lethifold

* * *


	4. 'Tis a Silly Place

~ Hearts of Clouded Crystal ~

"This is an odd place to meet, don't you think?" Alastor asks, frowning down at the Warhammer figurines that crowd a scarred tabletop.

"It might be odd, but I think it's fascinating," Lilith replies without looking at him, as she is too busy examining the wares the used-comic shop has to offer. "And if anyone were to come looking for me, it's the last place they'd ever think to look."

"Are you going to be in trouble if your brother finds out you've been sneaking out, then?"

"Well, there's not really any sneaking involved in my leaving the house." Lilith puts down the packet of superhero trading cards that she'd been holding and looks back over her shoulder at Alastor. "You know, Bellatrix has been pushing me to marry Rabastan Lestrange?"

"You may have mentioned it a time or ten," he replies as he cautiously pokes one of the little plastic war creatures. Other than wobbling a bit, the figure remains still.

"So, I told my brother and his pet harpy that I was going out on a date with Rabastan."

"And you don't think they'll be suspicious of the lie at all? What if they ask him about it?"

"Well, we did actually have dinner together at a popular wizarding restaurant where we were sure to be seen by gossipmongers, before we went our separate ways."

"You aren't actually going to marry him, are you?"

"I don't want to marry anyone, least of all someone with a taste for werewolf meat... if you know what I mean." The last bit is delivered in a sing-song tone, and accompanied by a fluttery hand gesture.

Alastor isn't quite sure how to respond to that, and Lilith returns her attention to the store's merchandise while she waits for him to recover his wits.

After a few minutes of browsing, she holds up a single-issue Batman comic and says, "Why do they call this a 'comic book', anyway? This is a _clearly_ a drama, and it's _hardly_ a book."

~oOo~

Prompt used: werewolf


	5. And Seasons Don't Fear The Reaper

~ Hearts of Clouded Crystal ~

Before she can scream, a hand clamps over Petunia's mouth.

"Shut up," an unfamiliar female voice hisses in her ear.

Petunia makes a strangled sound.

"Shut. Up." The command is more forceful this time, although how its owner managed that without raising her voice, Petunia has no clue. "Stay quiet. Your life depends on it."

The words sound so much like what she would expect a mugger to say that Petunia finds herself fighting down hysterical laughter.

This situation is utterly absurd, she thinks to herself. If only I were just being mugged...

Her vision is partially obscured by the blade of a black scythe, but she can still see colored lights blazing brightly against the darkness of the night as a group of wizards engages in a vicious duel right in the middle of the street.

Stress is not good for the baby, she reminds herself, and it is this thought that finally causes her to cease her struggles.

Her captor's hand slides away from her mouth, finding purchase instead around her upper arm as the scythe-wielder tugs her farther into the shadows, away from the battleground.

"What now?" Petunia asks.

"Now we wait," the scythe-wielder replies.

"Wait for what? What do you plan to do with me?"

"The end of the fight. And it depends on who wins."

* * *

"Who won?" the Potter woman's muggle sister asks fearfully, plucking at Lilith's cloak as a figure makes its way toward them in the dark.

"The Aurors," Lilith answers.

He is little more than a shadow in the dark, but his distinctive gait gives Moody away. It seems he's still not quite used to the peg leg yet. Although if the way he's located them in the dark so easily is any indication, it appears he's adjusted perfectly well to his new magical eye.

Glancing at the other woman, she clarifies belatedly, "Aurors are wizard police."

"I know that," her interlocutor snaps. "...wait, how do you know what police are?"

Lilith sighs.

"I like Batman comics. And don't ask me how I was introduced to them."

~oOo~

Prompt used: scream


	6. What the Caged Bird Observes

~ Hearts of Clouded Crystal ~

"There aren't any ghosts here," she says. "I would have thought there would be some, but there aren't."

He snorts. "Well, I doubt anyone wants to hang around this place after they've kicked off. I'm sure they're relieved to be able to leave Azkaban at all."

"That's not it," she says, her gaze drifting away from him to rest on an indiscernible spot on the scratched and stained wall of her cell. "Some people are still too afraid to pass on into the Great Beyond, and leave ghosts behind." Her gaze focuses on him again as she concludes, "But they don't get to hang around very long because the Dementors eat them."

"That is..." he trails off as she averts her eyes once more. "What's wrong?"

"I can't have a serious conversation with you while you're looking at me with that thing! Can't you at least put an eye-patch over it, or something?"

~oOo~

Prompt used: ghost


	7. Take It To The Grave

~ Hearts of Clouded Crystal ~

Lucius Malfoy and Gilbert Goyle testified that their allegiance to the Dark Lord was only due to the Imperius Curse, nevermind the fact that Voldemort didn't bother to leave his Mark on those who were not truly loyal to his cause, and both of them carried the madman's brand on their forearms.

Lilith, who likely would have been released without ever going to trial due to her lack of both the Dark Mark and seemingly any knowledge about the dark forces' efforts, had confessed to being the one to have held her brother and Malfoy under the Imperius Curse. She had been convicted on her confession alone. If the Ministry had had access to her wand, they would have found that she couldn't Imperius a fly, much less two full-grown wizards.

But her wand had never been found. Or, more accurately, the person who had found her wand had known she would get a much harsher sentence for the crimes she had actually committed, rather than the ones she had falsely confessed to, and had thought to save her from such a fate.

* * *

Alastor Moody laughs humorlessly as he places a lacquered box at the foot of an unmarked grave.

The box contains a wand: blackthorn and unicorn, thirteen and a quarter inches long, rigid.

Both box and wand will decay quickly in the murky mire of the Azkaban burial grounds, not that it would matter one way or the other if anyone were to find the wand now. Even if her master were to rise again like most of the wizarding community fears, Lilith is not going to return from her final rest.

~oOo~

Prompt used: Azkaban burial grounds


End file.
